At Midnight: I'm Only Me When I'm With You
by LeLa London
Summary: It was one of those lazy summer afternoons that slowly spread to the later colors of dark: gradual fire to picturesque sky that dipped into royalty and finally gave into majestic ink. A pair of teenagers lay on a spacious trampoline...


At Midnight: I'm Only Me When I'm With You

It was one of those lazy summer afternoons that slowly spread to the later colors of dark: gradual fire to picturesque sky that dipped into royalty and finally gave into majestic ink. A pair of teenagers lay on a spacious trampoline, sharing a single thin blanket just big enough for their shapes. One was a boy, a teenager to be exact. He looked to be fifteen, could be older. It was hard to tell. The adolescent had a rather boyish face. Next to him rested a girl. Now she appeared her age: sixteen.

Both were facing the sky, lying close to each other, glazing at the constellations or at very least they were trying to. Living in Hillridge, California had its disadvantages. If they lived in the countryside, maybe they would have had the prospect to catch millions of other stars and even more spectacular planets that were light years away. He was struck dumb at the infiniteness of this entire exercise. He means that it's peculiar for him to witness the night. Here, he and Lizzie were two extremely young teenagers, two out of nearly seven billion people alive in the current world. When he really thought deeply about it, they were mere specks. Humanity at a sheer glance was really fragile. Their existence lit temporarily during their individual lifespans and then it went out, extinguished like they never lived at all. Sure, their families and friends would grieve and miss their absence for a period of time anyway, but what about the rest of the world? It would just keep moving forward.

The girl beside him turns her fair head to look at her companion instead. She smiles briefly and is somewhat puzzled at what sees: her best friend since childhood, Gordo is buried in serious thought. His brow was hunched over, marking his forehead with lines of consideration, while his lips were morphed into a slight frown to match his mood. In a comparing observation, his blue eyes even had a faraway expression. Now that in itself was not an unusual occurrence. She just wondered why he had that look.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" voiced the girl with an overwhelming curiosity.

"Huh?" the boy intelligently replied and shook his head in an attempt to clear his head. "Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about how fragile humans are. We all are born helpless, without knowledge of anything in our own environment. We live for a while, make friends, and if we're lucky enough find someone, get married, have kids and then we die. Along the way, things might not go according to plan though; like our dream could end or someone you cared about dies or betrays you. I don't know. I guess I was thinking about life and death. I'm sorry to bore you about this," he dejectedly answered, losing eye contact.

"No, it's okay. I'm just surprised you mentioned it. That's some pretty deep things to think about. I guess I never really thought about it, the way you did," Lizzie spoke to the sky. Then set her hazel eyes directly towards his, "Gordo, you didn't bore me. I asked you for your thoughts. I think they're interesting, honestly," she reassured with a warm look. He only returned her look with a slow smile that reached his eyes, and she knew he accepted her words of comfort.

It was so nice to be out there with just the two of them. Lately, she's beginning to have a strange desire to only be with Gordo, to constantly watch him whenever he's paying attention to something else, wanting to run her hands through his hopefully soft, dark hair. Some days, that's all she can think about. Their friendship's changing. Maybe blind fear should have kept her away from him because a slight, palpable tension builds when they are spending time together, but it's energizing, not to be filled with self-doubt. She's glad to say doubt is not holding her back. Rather, her feelings and thoughts are motivating her toward him. They have been getting closer as a result. When the thought of him holding her enters her mind…well, she can't help but feel exhilarated. She admits he's no longer her friend. Gordo is much more than that to her.

Although she loves their friendship, the possibility of developing something more reminds her that he's important. And someday soon, she aches to call him, her best friend and boyfriend too. Why did she hold him in high esteem? Lizzie never ran out of things to talk about to him. Her topics mainly include fashion and how much she wants to fit in the popular crowd. She knew he never quite understood her requirement for constant acceptance and almost relentless need for competition in standing out. As a person, he is very independent in that regard. He actually believes in staying true to your own identity and choosing to not to follow society's norms. She especially admires that offhand trait since he doesn't care about what other people think. He reminds her daily to be a better person although she hates that he is usually right about things and makes it no secret in telling her so. He would insist on saying aloud his strong opinions and she was usually arguing on the opposite side of his. With chagrin, she recalls the number of times she's lost in their battles. Let's just say: the numbers favor Gordo. Her mouth would pout in childish stubbornness; it's not that she didn't try to win. He just incidentally came up on top when logic is involved and she would falter by arguing based on emotions. It was both a cursed annoyance and blessing in disguise. That's when she's realized: she can't live without him.

With so many bottled feelings, she felt ready to burst. So before she loses her nerve, Lizzie gingerly clasps his hand into hers and held tight. Gordo responded with a hand squeeze of his own and added a small kiss to the mix at their joined fingers. Everything they went through seems to lead them to this moment. For "Lizzie and Gordo" were no longer best friends in-between that comfortable silence. No, they were something beyond ordinary friends. They were together at last.

A/N: LG have my heart at the moment. That's why I've been writing so much of them lately. Eh, read and review, please? :)


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